The Northwest Indiana Fencing Club was founded in 2002 by a group of amateur fencers who had participated in fencing classes held by the Merrillville High School Adult Education Program. Originally consisting of approximately 12 members and known as the Merrillville Fencing Club, the group changed its name to the Northwest Indiana Fencing Club when it relocated to its current location in the Great Lakes Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Building in St. John, Indiana in 2006.

Our growing club currently has over 50 regular members including competitive members who participate regularly in United States Fencing Association authorized competitions, high school fencing team members from many local high schools, and many purely recreational fencers who enjoy the exercise and friendly competition that the sport of fencing provides. Men, women, girls, boys, families and individuals...we all have one thing in common...a love of fencing.

Please feel free to come and visit any of our regular practice sessions, held almost every Monday and Wednesday evening (except holidays). You would be able to see our facility, meet some of our club members, get any questions answered, and watch some actual fencing bouts. We are always happy to introduce our sport to newcomers.

Our club has four regulation size fencing strips, each with its own electric scoring machines and reels. All of our scoring machines are up-to-date with current international scoring and timing rules.

Our club provides an assortment of equipment for all three blades... saber, foil, and epee...that is available for use by club members.

We also have available specialized equipment for foil and epee fencers, such as this five target, ten function foil and epee training target.

Many of our club members display the trophies and medals that they have won at various competitions, both from within our club and from many United States Fencing Association sanctioned tournaments. Our club regularly holds competitions for our members to participate in, and USFA sanctioned tournaments can be found almost every weekend all across the Midwest and the country.

At most of our practices, we get a diverse group of fencers...saber, epee, and foil...young and old...men and women...beginners to experienced. No matter which blade you choose, you are almost sure to always find some competition at our club.

Two of our club foil coaches, Ann Jones and Kendra McPheeters, square off in a bout. Ann is the head coach of the Marian Catholic High School Fencing Team and Kendra is the head coach of the Lowell High School Fencing Team.

Kyle Bradshaw and Aaron Cook engage in an epee bout at our club. Kyle is an assistant coach for the Lowell HS fencing team, while Aaron is the current NIFC 2017 club foil champion and also coaches foil at our club.

Club members Lexi and Dirk take part in a saber bout at one of our regular practices.

An epee bout takes place on strip #3 while a saber bout is in progress on strip #2.

Anyone interested in taking the NEXT class can contact us through the "Fees, Forms & Contact Page". The cost of the class is $50 for the instruction, $10 for a basic membership in the USFA, and, if needed, a $25 equipment rental fee. We believe the classes are suitable for ages 10 and above.

The next beginner's class is scheduled to be held starting on Thursday, October 12th and running for eight Thursdays (10/12, 10/19, 10/26, 11/2, 11/9, 11/16, 11/30, 12/7) from 6:30pm until 8:30pm. The class will teach beginning Saber.

If you are interested in a class, please contact us through our Contact PageKeep checking our website for Future Lessons for EPEE, SABER and FOIL

We are sad to announce the untimely passing of our friend, armorer, fellow fencer and sometime coach Dale Block, who passed away recently. He will be missed by all who knew him. Dale was the Saber coach for Marian Catholic High School for approximately 8 years, as well as a valued member and coach here at NIFC for approximately 7 years.